The renaissance period marked radical changes in many fields, this includes religion. The so-called Protestant Reformation was the split within western Christian Church initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestants. Calls for reform came form all sectors of the European society and it is this dissatisfaction that explains why the ideas of Martin Luther evoked such extreme responses, there was already a ready audience. Although there had been significant attempts at reform before Luther, the date usually given for the start of the Protestant Reformation is 1517, when Luther published The Ninety-Five Theses. As he developed his ideas, Luther gathered followers, who came to be called Protestants. The word protestant derives from “protest” drawn up by a small group of reforming German princes in 1529. At first Protestant meant a “follower of Luther”, but with the appearance of many protesting sects, it became a general term applied to all non-Catholic western European Christians. Within the first decade of the publishing of his ideas much of central Europe and Scandinavia had broken from the Roman Catholic Church. While much of the reformation is credited to Martin Luther, one can argue that it is more the combination of him during that specific time along with the development of a more sophisticated printing press that led to the ‘success’ of the reformation.
By the time Martin Luther started publishing his ideas there not only existed great dissatisfaction among the European Christian community but the new technology of printing press allowed for the spread of his ideas. Many printed works included woodcuts and other illustrations, so that even those who could not read could grasp the main ideas. Hymns were a...
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...lergy in the new Protestant churches. Luther’s ideas also appealed to townspeople who envied the church’s wealth and resented paying for it. After cities became Protestant, the city council taxed the clergy and placed them under the jurisdiction of civil courts. Luther worked closely with political authorities, viewing them as fully justified in reforming the church in their territories. He instructed all Christians to obey their secular rulers, whom he saw divinely ordained to maintain order. Individuals may have been convinced of the truth of Protestant teachings by hearing sermons, listening to hymns, of reading pamphlets, but an area only became Protestant when its ruler brought in a reformer or two to reeducate the territory’s clergy, sponsored public sermons, and confiscated church property.
Works Cited
McKay, et.al, History of the World Societies chap.15
All of Europe used to be united under one religion, Catholicism. Europe started inching away from Catholicism during the 13th - 15th centuries. The church leaders started to only think about money and the power they held, instead of the real reason they were supposed to be there, God. This caused an uprising of people who no longer wanted to be a part of the Catholic church, nicknamed Protestants because they protested the ways of the catholic church. The Protestant Reformation was caused by corruption in the church, Martin Luther and John Calvin’s ideas, and the clergy and their preachings.
There are so many causes from the Protestant Reformation. In the Protestant, there was three different sections that got affected more the the others. When the Protestant Reformation happened it affected the Sociality, Political, and Economic the most.
Social and economic stresses of The Protestant Reformation age were just among few of the things that impacted the ordinary population of Europe. The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, and cultural disorder that divided Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the ordinary population. In northern and central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. In 1555 The Peace of Augsburg allowed for the coexistence of Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany; and in 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War. The key ideas of the Reformation, a call to purify the church and a belief that the Bible, should be the sole source of spiritual authority. However, Luther and the other reformers became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to give their ideas a wide audience.
The church’s robust grip on religious expression shattered as medieval society transitioned into a period known as the Reformation. Characterized by the rejection of common ideology, the Reformation sparked religious curiosity. Reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther offered interpretations of the Bible in direct opposition to the Catholic Church’s teachings, forcing Europeans to examine and formulate their own beliefs. This style of thinking was foreign to European society because up to this point in history Europeans were passive absorbers of Catholic Church ideology. Hence, it was natural that an era considered the Age of Enlightenment followed the period of rejection and questioning known as the Reformation.
The practices of The Catholic Church during the sixteenth century caused a monk named Martin Luther to question The Church’s ways. Luther watched as families suffered physically, emotionally and economically by the hands of The Church. Luther saw no basis for The Church to charge people for their sins or prevent them from learning to read The Bible themselves. He watched as the money built up The Palace, yet tore apart the fundamental and spiritual reasons one goes to church in the first place. In an effort to change the practices of The Church, he wrote the 95 Thesis. In these, he stated his views on the abuses of The Church. This was the beginning of a large movement that would change religious practices over the world.
The 16th century was a time of social, political, and religious change in Europe. The Protestant
The Protestant Reformation was a period of time (1500-1700) where there became a change in Western Christendom. This reformation was caused by the resentment from the people because the Catholic Church abusing their powers for political and economic advances. In this time the church was selling pardons for sin and indulgences to forgive sins, decrease days spent in purgatory and save the dead from damnation. The reformation was when people became more aware with the back hand dealings with the church and men like Martin Luther and John Calvin created their own churches to what they believed was not corrupt unlike the church. Unfortunately there many consequences as far at the Roman Catholic church attempting to bring people back to the church,
with his 95 Theses. A strict father who most likely did not accept “no” as an
During the early 1500’s, nearly four hundred men and women gave their lives fighting for protestant reformation. During this time, the Roman Catholic Church controlled much of Europe and was very powerful and corrupt. Many Christians broke away from the Catholic Church, seeking reformation. It started with Martin Luther and his “95 Theses” in 1517, and continued into the next century. These brave men and women believed that salvation came from faith in Jesus alone, not by works, and that the Bible should be in the people’s hands, not just the high priesthood of the Catholic Church. William Tyndale, one influential Christian Reformer, was called by God to translate the Bible into English and share the good news that everyone is saved not by works, but by faith alone (Pettinger). He followed this calling, influencing numerous people, to the point of death. William Tyndale is one of the most influential figures in early protestant reform because of his translation of the Bible into English, his use of the printing press, and his unwavering faith in God.
The protestant reformation of 16th century had both: immediate and long term effects. Thus, we can see that it was a revolution of understanding the essence of religion, and of what God is. The protestant reformation is said to a religious movement. However, it also influenced the economical, political and social life of people. The most global, short term effect of the reformation was the reevaluation of beliefs, and, as a result, the loss of authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The long term effects were: the emergence of new heretical movements, the declining of papacy, thus the reevaluation of people’s view on the church and life values.
Luther belonged to a church in Wittenburg, Germany and here he was a scholar as well as a priest. He, like many others, came to notice the corruption in the Church. The Church had come to own a great deal of land all over Europe, collect a very considerable sum in mandatory taxes from the middle-class, and they had become very rich and very powerful. This led to an even greater hunger and they started the practice of selling indulgences, which is paying to be forgiven of one’s sins, and simony, which is paying to get into church office. These were just a few of the many un-Godly acts of the Catholic Church during the 1500’s.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
Martin Luther lived a life devoted to the word of God. While very young, Luther left a traditional education to join a friary in Erfurt, Germany. This fateful decision would ensure Luther’s role in a religious and social revolution. Two major words define the situation that unfolded in front of Luther, Protest and Reform. The growing social changes and bold observations and accusations of Luther made a protest for reform or the Protestant Reformation. Although during this period the culture plunged the Catholic Church into decline, those same Humanism ideals sparked the reformation and break of the corrupt Catholic Church. The ideals of humanism aided Martin Luther to create the 95 Theses, which created a new perspective of religious
The Effects of the Reformation on European Life European society was divided from the word go, people all around Europe were dominantly Catholic before the reformation. This time was bringing change throughout Europe with a heavy influence on art and culture because the Renaissance was occurring; a religious revolution was also beginning, which was known as the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was the voicing of disagreements by a German Catholic priest about the Catholic Church; this priest was Martin Luther and was excommunicated from the church for his actions. The Protestant Reformation helped to influence and strengthen the Renaissance that was just arising in England.